On Policing and Racial Justice, Justin Trudeau Is Offering Empty Gestures, Not Real Action
With thousands of Canadians protesting police violence, Justin Trudeau has offered no plans to combat brutality in Canadian policing — but he did take a knee at an Ottawa protest for the cameras. It’s a tried-and-true Trudeau formula: refuse to take meaningful progressive action, but pose for the press as if he did.
Justin Trudeau takes a knee at a racial justice demonstration in Ottawa, Canada, on June 5, 2020.
Early last week, a reporter asked Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to comment on the events unfolding throughout the United States:
You’ve been reluctant to comment on the words and actions of the US president. But we do have Donald Trump now calling for military action against protesters. We saw protesters teargassed yesterday to make way for a presidential photo-op. I’d like to ask you what you think about that, and if you don’t want to comment, what message do you think you’re sending?
It was a perfectly reasonable question, particularly given the international brand Trudeau has quite deliberately built as the quintessential anti-Trump figure. The prime minister’s response, or rather lack of one, proved emblematic.
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